Guardiola to be named Barcelona coach

Former club captain Pep Guardiola will replace Frank Rijkaard as Barcelona coach at the end of the season, Spanish media reported on Tuesday.

Newspapers said that Barcelona's delegate commission, which includes club president Joan Laporta and sporting director Txiki Begiristain, had met on Monday and recommended that Guardiola should replace Rijkaard as first team coach.

Barcelona-based daily Sport said the decision would be ratified by the rest of the board and made official at the end of the season.

The club has said it will not comment on possible changes until the season is over.

Rijkaard, whose contract runs to 2009, has denied reports he will step down as coach in the wake of the team's failure to win any silverware over the past two seasons.

Local-born Guardiola made his name at Barcelona as a cultured midfielder in the early 1990s when Johan Cruyff was manager.

He quickly established himself as a favourite at the Nou Camp and became one of the key players in Cruyff's so-called "Dream team" which won four consecutive league titles between 1991 and 1994 and the European Cup in 1992.

He was part of the Spain side that won the gold medal in the Barcelona Olympics and won 47 caps for the senior national team.

Guardiola left Barcelona in 2001 to join Serie A side Brescia but his career in Italy was disrupted when he tested positive for nandrolone in November 2001.

He served a four-month ban but strenuously denied any offence and went through the courts to clear his name, finally winning his case in October last year.

After spells in Qatar and Mexico, Guardiola announced his retirement as a player in Nov. 2006. He was appointed coach of Barcelona's B side last June.